


To the End of the Universe

by RubyFiamma



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Alien Invasion, Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, Galaxies, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parallel Universes, Pining, Slow Build, Slow Burn, space
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-28
Updated: 2016-07-28
Packaged: 2018-07-27 06:07:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7606645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyFiamma/pseuds/RubyFiamma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lance and Hunk meet Keith when they're eight years old and Lance immediately declares Keith his rival. However, his overwhelming curiosity encourages a friendship with the mysterious boy next door. As they grow up together, Keith reveals more truths to his hidden past and both of them stumble upon a secret that was better left untold.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To the End of the Universe

**I**

* * *

 

The air is thick and humid, the pavement is scorching. Lance can feel his skin baking and his sweaty shirt sticking to his spine. There’s the remnants of a rocket popsicle trickling down his hand and arm but he doesn’t care. There’s a new family moving in next door.

“Hunk, c’mon,” he says, pulling on the hem of his friend’s t-shirt sleeve. “Let’s go see if there’s any kids!”

Hunk groans and slumps against the tree trunk in Lance’s front yard. “Can’t we just stay here? Where it’s cool? In the shade?”

Lance rolls his eyes and licks the raspberry flavored juice off his arm. “Hunk, it’s not cool in the shade. It’s hot _everywhere_. The whole planet is roasting. Stop being a wet blanket and c’mon!”

“I wish I had a wet blanket right about now,” Hunk complains. “A nice, cold wet blanket —”

“ _Hunk_.”

Hunk lets out a heavy sigh. “Okay,” he finally says.

Lance tosses the popsicle aside in the yard and says a quick prayer hoping that their dog will find it before his mother does. “What if they have kids our age, wouldn’t that be awesome?” He stops in his driveway and grabs on to Hunk’s arm. “What if it’s a girl — what if she’s beautiful? I wonder how long it’ll take for her to fall for me —”

“Lance, I feel like I’m melting,” Hunk whines. “Let’s go there fast and then go back inside. We can play that new video game you have.”

“Okay,” Lance agrees, hopping over a crack in the sidewalk. The tall hedges and moving truck block their view of the front porch and driveway. Lance looks up and down the street but doesn’t spot any unfamiliar cars. He only sees the movers walking in and out of the house and no sign of any kids’ furniture or belongings that would lead him to believe there’d be any children. Disappointment settles in by the time he gets to the neighbours’ driveway.

“I see a bike,” Hunk says. “It’s a red one. Shiny. It looks brand new.”

Lance purses his lips and shields his eyes from the sun’s offensive glare. Being taller than him, Hunk has the advantage of seeing over the hedges so he needs to stand on his toes.

The bike comes into view just as the mover carries it onto the porch.

“Whoa! That’s an Eames Evel BMX bike! Look at those chrome rims!” exclaims Lance. “Lucky!”

“My cousin has that bike, he says it’s a sick ride.”

“That must mean they have a son. I hope he’s our age.”

“Girls can ride BMX bikes too, Lance.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m just _saying_ … Do you see him yet?”

“No,” Hunk says, stopping at the edge of the driveway. “Can we go now?”

Lance leaves him there and winds around the shrubbery. It’s a tight squeeze between the truck and the hedges. Lance wonders why he chose to take this route and is glad he’s thin enough to fit through. “No we can’t go now! Aren’t you curious to see who owns this bike? He’s probably really cool if he has a bike like this. I wonder what other cool stuff he has!”

“Lance,” Hunk calls out, his voice wavering as if it were meant to be a warning. Lance ignores him, he’ll probably just complain some more. Hunk may be his best friend in the whole world but he has _no_ sense of adventure.

He continues to creep up to the driveway and waits until two of the movers carry out a beige coloured sofa wrapped in plastic and walk it through the front door. He hurries up the stairs once they’ve disappeared into the house and rushes over to the bike. Lance doesn’t hesitate to run his fingers over the shiny metal frame. He’s been wanting this bike for two years now but his parents won’t buy him a new one when he can use his brother’s old one just fine. It sucks being in a large family with older siblings sometimes. Means you get stuck with all their old crap.

“What are you doing?”

The voice is small but it startles Lance all the same. If he had a chance to measure, he’s sure he had jumped at least three feet back. Of course, he trips over his shoe and stumbles backwards into the wooden railing fencing in the porch right after. Heat instantly flares through his cheeks and spreads to the tips of his ears. They’re burning hotter than the surface of the sun right now.

Once he gets over his humiliation and his heart has steadied in his chest, Lance finally gets a look at the newcomer on the porch. It’s a boy about his age and height. His skin looks soft and pale. His hair is dark and fluffy, framing his face and curling under his ears. He’s wearing a red t-shirt and black shorts with brand new Jordans. Lance doesn’t mean to, but he can feel himself making a face.

“I like your bike,” he blurts, letting out a gushing breath he didn't know he had been holding in.

“It's alright,” the boy says with a shrug. “I haven't had a chance to ride it yet.”

Lance jabs his thumb into his chest and then over his shoulder. “My name's Lance, that guy over there is Hunk, my best friend. We live on the same street as you.”

The boy looks to Hunk and mutters something but Lance doesn't hear him. Hunk waves but doesn't cross the front lawn.

“Hm?”

“Keith,” the boy mumbles, not bothering to make eye contact. “My name's Keith.”

“Cool, nice to meet you, Keith!” Lance grins and offers a hand but the boy doesn't shake it. He pulls it back after a few seconds, embarrassment spreading hot under his skin once again. “Say,” he begins with a wary smile, “do you… wanna hang out with us?”

Keith doesn’t answer right away. He opens his mouth and hesitates before his name is called by a woman from inside the house.

“Keith!”

Lance's attention is drawn to the doorway. A woman's head pokes around the frame and smiles. Her hair is dark like Keith's but shoulder length and pin straight.

“Oh, you've made friends!” she exclaims, clapping her hands together as she comes fully into view. She's tall but the heels she's wearing add extra height. Her dress is dark blue and fits neatly to her slim form.

 _She looks different from my mom,_ Lance observes. She looks a little bit like a professional business lady — which there's nothing wrong with that — it's just that he's used to his mom and Hunk's mom side by side in the kitchen; aprons snug around voluptuous curves while they cook, laughing and dancing to Laura Leon or Selena blaring from the small kitchen stereo on the counter. Those CDs are so overused, Lance is surprised they still play properly.

“They're not —” Keith begins, only to be interrupted by his mother.

“Why don't you invite them in and show them your room!” she suggests excitedly. “It's real hot out today, you boys shouldn't be playing outside. I'll make some lemonade just as soon as I find my kitchen boxes!” 

Keith looks from Lance to his mother and Lance looks from Keith to Hunk. Hunk shrugs and shields his eyes from the sun.

“Okay,” Keith sighs and Lance gets maybe a little too noticeably excited. He motions for Hunk to come over and turns to say thank you to Keith's mother but she's already retreated inside the house. So his eyes fall back on to the boy in front of him with his arms crossed and waits in awkward silence.

“Hey,” Hunk greets with a wave once he's on the porch. “I’m Hunk.”

“I know. I’m Keith.”

“Well isn’t this exciting,” whistles Lance, rocking back on his heels. He can’t help feeling a little awkward and out of place right now.

“C’mon, I’ll show you around,” Keith mumbles. Lance exchanges looks with Hunk who shrugs again.

They follow Keith into his house and both he and Hunk let out a long sigh of relief once they’re hit with the wall of cool air as they toe their shoes off at the door. He notices that there’s furniture placed haphazardly all over the house and boxes stacked in the middle of the kitchen floors. The walls are bright white and bare but the house itself is _really nice_ and everything looks shiny and brand new, like Keith’s bike outside.

Lance and Hunk follow Keith upstairs and down the hallway to the second door on the left. There’s a sign on the door in bright, blocky red letters that reads _Keith’s Room._ Lance wonders what it’d be like to have his own room instead of sharing it with his brother.

Keith opens the door, they step inside and Lance realises how much different his bedroom is than the rest of the house. Everything is set up in here, completely put together.

For starters, it’s a big room, bigger than Lance’s. There’s a single bed in the corner with red and black bed sheets, motorcycles and gray clouds of smoke are printed on them. There are posters of various muscle cars and bikes on the walls. He has a few shelves that are home to different trophies and trinkets. A flat screen television and game system are on another wall. There’s a lava lamp shaped like a rocket ship and laptop on a desk on the opposite side of the room. Next to it is a tall bookcase with video games,  several thick and heavy looking books and a collection of strange looking rocks.

“Wow,” he hears Hunk saying. “Your room is pretty cool.”

“Yeah,” Keith responds. “It's alright. It was the first room to get done I guess.”

Lance takes a step closer to the bookshelf, mostly to take a look at the video games he has, but he’s drawn to the rocks instead. His eyes flicker up for a moment and catch some of the titles embroidered on the books’ spines. Most of them are to do with space and some of them are about rocks and Lance finds himself thinking that Keith is a really strange kid.

He notices a red rock a little bit larger than the others that seems to sparkle when the sunlight trickles in through the slits in the semi-closed blinds. He’s never seen a rock like this before and if Lance is being honest with himself, it’s pretty awesome looking for just being a rock.

“Don’t touch them!” Keith snaps just as Lance is about to reach out and pick up the rock.  He snaps his hand back sharply as if he had put it in a flame and heat instantly flares under his skin again.

“S-sorry,” he laughs nervously, running his now idle hand through his hair. Hunk looks at him, his frown full of second hand embarrassment and pity. This only makes Lance angrier that this is the second time Keith has managed to make him feel this way. “I l-like your rock collection.”

“They’re not _just_ rocks,” Keith says, folding his arms over his chest and making a face. He’s looking at Lance as if he’s stupid and should know something he obviously doesn’t about the not- _just_ -rock collection. 

“Right, of course,” Lance replies, trying to play it cool. What kind of weird kid gets all worked up about stupid rocks anyway.

“Hey so uh, you guys wanna play video games?” offers Hunk as he slides his gaze from Keith to Lance.

 _Good ol’ Hunk always has my back_ , Lance thinks. “Yeah! You got any good games, Keith?”

Keith shrugs. “I don’t really play video games,” he says, still glaring at Lance as if the other boy didn’t trust taking his eyes off him.

“Outside then? Maybe we could ride bikes?”

“Yeah!” chirps Lance, “Maybe we could take turns? Maybe I could try out your bike? I’ve always —”

The other boy sighs this time. “It’s too hot to do anything.”Lance scowls but Keith isn’t looking at him. He’s toeing the carpet and staring at it like there’s some sort of profound interest holding his gaze.

“You wanna come —” Lance starts, and this time he’s really trying to offer his friendship to Keith, but Keith cuts him off.

“Besides, you’ll probably do something stupid and break it.” It’s the most mean and sour thing Lance has ever heard. Not even his siblings talk to him like that.

Lance is floored. His skin is blistering hot with rage and embarrassment. He was only trying to be Keith’s friend and this is what he gets in return? So he snaps, “Yeah well — _you’re_ stupid! And so’s your bike. And your room. You’re just. Just. A spoiled brat!”

“Good one, Lance!” cheers Hunk. Keith shoots him a look and Hunk tries to make an angry face, but he isn’t fooling anyone. At least not Lance, who knows his best friend couldn’t be mean even if he wanted to.

Lance continues, even with the brittle support of his friend. “You think you’re cool but you’re not and your rock collection is dumb!”

Keith’s fists are balled at his sides and he comes closer, they’re almost in each other’s faces now. “You stink and so does your breath!”

“You just think you’re better than us because your parents are rich!”

Keith startles, his eyes go wide for a second before he squeezes them shut and shouts, “Go away! I don’t want to be friends with you guys!”

Hunk heads for the door but Lance steps right up to Keith and it’s not hard to look the boy right in his eye since they’re the same height. He clenches his fists too, if Keith wants a fight, then Lance will give it to him. He’ll punch him right in his stupid face. They glare at each other for a minute, both their chests heaving but Keith doesn’t say anything more.

“I don’t wanna be friends with you either, _Keith._ From this day on, we’re _rivals._ ”

And with that declaration, Lance grabs Hunk by his arm and storms out of the house.

 

**Author's Note:**

> [Laura Leon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7kHaRqASOU&list=RDd7kHaRqASOU#t=0) and [Selena](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvtTsMkdrlQ&index=8&list=PLG9lFj2sXIuBE2TJ1WKJKdYmX2edCgltM)
> 
> [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/dashboard) [twitter](https://twitter.com/?lang=en)


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